


Invisible

by lonely_no_more



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Ghost!Mikasa, M/M, Tumblr request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 19:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5346629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonely_no_more/pseuds/lonely_no_more
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Annie Leonhardt moved into her new house, she wasn't expecting it to be haunted. Added to that, the ghost seems to really want to scare her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Invisible

**Author's Note:**

> fullmarco-halfmarco said: What about mikasa is a ghost au?

It was always strange getting adjusted to a new place; especially a new house. Granted, Annie admitted, the house was a fixer-upper and the neighborhood was really old. She mused that someone might think that her house was straight out of one of those paranormal thriller movies where the protagonist’s family moves into a sleepy New England town and the house they move into just so happens to be a little run-down and haunted by powerful evil spirits. The young woman sighed and shook her head. It had been a week and a half since she had moved in and, thus far, everything was perfectly normal. It didn't take long to get everything but she still hadn't quite finished unpacking.

Annie wasn't exactly the most motivated person and, since she lived alone, she figured that she could take as much time as she wanted to unpack. So, after putting away the box containing most of her mugs and glasses, she made herself a cup of coffee and sat on the couch to watch the evening news.

If it weren't for the new job and the inheritance she got when her father had died, getting a house would've been out of the question. While her job as a financial advisor was a good one, she was still fairly young and new to the business. Annie was watching the news in hopes of getting a quick rundown of the day's stocks before going to bed. An exhausted sigh left her as another report of violence was aired and she reached over to grab the remote on the arm of the couch. When her hand was met with fabric instead of the cool plastic of the remote, she looked over in confusion. “I could've sworn…” She spotted the device on the opposite arm. The blonde woman got up and snatched the remote up, turning the TV off. “Weird,” she muttered. Then, without another thought of the incident, the woman headed off to bed.

[X]

Annie had noticed, over the weeks, that things in her new home would move without reason. Something she could swear she remembered leaving in one room would be found in another. It was all harmless; on occasion it was her keys and she was nearly late a couple times. The blonde woman sighed as she arrived home, kicking the door shut as she set her purse on the credenza. As she walked towards the closet to put up her coat, she froze when the door clicked open. Glancing back at the door, she frowned and walked back over to shut it. To ensure it would stay closed, Annie flipped the lock and tested the handle. When it only jiggled but didn't turn completely, the woman went back to the closet and finished hanging up her coat. She started taking off her boots when she heard the lock click. Attention shooting back to the door, the blonde woman watched in amazement as the door again swung open.

“Ok, you are _really_ annoying,” Annie muttered.

It seemed, almost in response, that the door slammed shut. Annie rolled her eyes and finished removing her boots before going to the kitchen. With it getting steadily colder, Annie preferred to have something warm to drink at all times. She started to warm some of the mulled cider from the weekend and out of the corner of her eye, Annie thought she saw movement. When she turned, trying to catch whatever it was, all she saw was her favorite mug sitting innocently where she had left it. “I swear to God, if there's really something here, you'd better fucking stop.”

Nothing moved and there was no noise, save for the faint bubbling of the cider as it began to boil. Annie turned the heat off and reached to grab her mug, only for it to not be there. She looked and saw it was just out of reach. Again, she made a grab for it and, in plain sight, the mug slid away from her. “You fucking _troll_ , seriously, cut it out. I'm cold twenty-four-fucking-seven.”

For a moment, Annie didn't move and the mug stopped. When she reached for it, the mug didn't move and Annie was able to grab it without problem. Under her breath, she muttered, “Thanks.” The rest of the evening went without incident as Annie curled up on the couch with two blankets and watched the news.

[X]

There were sparse happenings for a couple weeks as Annie dealt with a sudden drop in stocks and helping do damage control with her clients. Annie was thankful and somewhat perplexed by the seemingly absent spirit. So, one Saturday morning as she was making coffee, the woman leaned against the counter and ran a hand over her face, waiting for the beverage to brew. She groaned quietly, “Why the hell am I always tired?” There was obviously no answer and as she poured the coffee into her mug, she answered herself, “Because I'm a fucking insomniac.” While she turned and leaned back against the counter, Annie noticed that one of the stools to her kitchen island had been pulled out. She rolled her eyes and snapped, “Do you seriously have nothing better to do other than annoy me?”

Then, in front of Annie, a young woman appeared out of thin air. She was taller than Annie and had striking grey eyes; her expression was set in agitation and the way her black hair fell to her shoulders, framing her face, only pulled the focus to her eyes. “I'm _dead_ , so _no_ , I really don't have anything better to do.”

Out of instinct, Annie swung at the woman and successfully fell through her to land on the kitchen floor. Thankfully she had the forethought to put her mug down before she had tried to punch the ghost. _‘I seriously just tried to punch a ghost,_ ’ Annie realized. ‘ _A ridiculously attractive ghost_.’

A hand was extended to her and Annie glanced up to see the woman- ghost- bending at the waist to offer help. “I'm fairly certain that had I been solid, that would've hurt.” Without waiting for Annie to respond, she grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her up.

“You're a ghost,” Annie stated.

The spectre blinked. “Well, yeah, we already established that I'm _dead_ and you literally just fell _through_ me.” She shook her head. “Well, whatever. You know, you're very hard to scare. I've been trying for weeks and that was the best reaction I've gotten so far.”

She blatantly stared at the ghost and retorted, “And you're a real pain in the ass.” Annie rubbed her temples for a moment. Her attention was drawn up as she noticed the ghost still standing there. “Who the hell are you anyway? And why are you haunting my house?”

“Well, technically, this was my house first.” She brought her legs up, sitting cross-legged in midair. “Mikasa.”

“What?”

“My name,” the spirit replied, “it's Mikasa.” She motioned vaguely, “I lived here until a few years ago when the dam broke.” When Annie seemed confused, the spectre explained, “I was actually driving home from college when the dam broke upstream and my car got caught in the flood.”

“So, you drowned?”

Mikasa shrugged. “I guess I did. I don't really remember much. I didn't realize I was dead until I woke up and saw my brother and his boyfriend moving everything out. When I tried to talk to them, I thought they were ignoring me. So I tried to grab them and my hands went right through them.” She paused and toyed with the scarf around her neck. “That was when I figured out I was dead.”

After a brief moment, Annie once again retrieved her mug and took a sip. “So you're still attached to the house.”

“Yeah. I mean, I grew up in this house after I was adopted.” She added, “By the way, you give off a really strong psychic aura.”

“And what the fuck does that mean?”

“It means I have a lot of energy because your aura allows me to- I don't know if _feed_ would be the right word,” she mused. “But I feel a lot stronger. Probably explains why I'm able to talk to you.”

“And pull me to my feet,” Annie muttered.

“By the way,” Mikasa began slowly, “why did you choose this house?”

“Well, it needs a little fixing up but it's a pretty house,” Annie replied, staring at the bottom of her mug. “Plus, I don't know, I guess I just really liked it here.” She added, “That and with my inheritance and new job, I was able to afford it.” Seeing the flat look on Mikasa's face, Annie smirked and asked, “What?”

“Nothing,” she replied, “I'll see you later.” Then, without another word, the ghost disappeared.

Annie blinked and then turned back to the coffee pot, pouring herself another mug. “That's gonna take some getting used to.”

[X]

Mikasa started to appear more often. She would usually appear when Annie got home from work, floating alongside her and asking how the day had gone. “Being a financial advisor sounds really boring.”

“It pays pretty well,” Annie replied as she sprawled out on the couch.

The spectre crossed her legs and floated above the arm of the couch, resting her chin on her hand. “Still.”

Looking up at her ghostly companion, the smaller female muttered, “You _know_ I'm not boring.” When the ghost simply turned her head and refused to say anything, the woman snapped, “I practice my kick boxing in the basement and you've sat there and watched. That's not boring.”

“Just because you do one interesting thing-”

Annie grabbed a pillow and covered her face as she groaned in frustration, muffling the noise. Dropping her hands from the pillow, she muttered, “You're _so fucking annoying_.” When she heard a chuckle, Annie moved the pillow to glare at Mikasa and accused, “You're being a jackass on purpose.”

“I don't know what you mean,” Mikasa said airily. She flashed a brief smile at Annie and said, “We could've gone to the same gym if I was still alive. I did MMA. It'd be fun to see which one of us would win.”

“Maybe someday, when I die, we can fight each other. Ghosts can fight each other, right?”

Mikasa blinked and again toyed with her scarf thoughtfully. “Dunno. I've never encountered another ghost here. So, I don't know if we'd be able to touch like humans do or if we'd just go right through each other.” She shrugged. “Well, I guess we'll find out when you die.” The woman stretched, still floating above the arm of the couch. “Do you have any tattoos?”

With an amused snort, Annie inquired, “Why?”

“I had been planning on getting a tattoo before I died but I never got to.”

“I've got a few.”

“A few.”

“Yeah,” the other woman confirmed.

The ghost groaned in exasperation, “I hate you so much- why can't you ever _elaborate_?”

Annie smirked. “Is it necessary?”

“For curiosity’s sake, yes,” Mikasa snapped.

Getting to her feet, Annie said, “Too bad. I'm gonna go shower. I have a couple friends coming over later.” She turned away after seeing Mikasa's expression go from indignant to unreadable. The woman really did have friends visiting that evening; for the first time since she had moved, her childhood friends, Reiner and Bertholdt, were going to come see her house. As Annie got the water started and warming up, she began to undress. It had been a while since she had seen her friends. Her showers were typically long and, since she lived alone, Annie took advantage by using as much hot water as she liked.

“Is that Russian?”

Annie jumped to see Mikasa standing behind her, seemingly leaning against the opposite wall of the shower. “What the _fuck_ , Mikasa?”

She looked curious, brows raising. “What does it say?”

“ _Home_.” Annie turned back towards the water and started to rinse her hair. “It says _Home_.”

Mikasa said nothing further about that particular tattoo, sensing there was some deep meaning through the tone of the living woman's voice. To change the mood, she smirked. “That's a nice tribal raven you've got. Did it hurt to get it over your shoulders?”

“Do you have anything else you could be doing _other_ than intruding on me while I shower?” She looked over her shoulder at Mikasa and grinned. “Unless you're simply enjoying the view.”

Mikasa's eyes widened and she walked through the curtain of the shower, exiting the situation. Annie smirked and continued her shower in peace. However, once out of the shower, Annie noted that Mikasa was nowhere to be seen. ‘ _Not necessarily a bad thing. Reiner and Bertholdt would probably freak the fuck out._ ’

Her friends arrived not long after and Annie got coffee going. Reiner, in his usual way, plopped down on the couch and quipped, “Not bad, Annie, not bad. Had any parties yet?”

“I'm not a party person, Reiner,” Annie retorted.

“C'mon, Annie, you _own_ this house! It's not like when you were renting.” He reached over and nudged her shoulder. “C'mon, Annie, c'mon.”

Annie leveled a withering look on him and muttered, “The answer is still no. I don't like parties.”

Bertholdt chimed in, “Parties aren't really my thing either, so I'm totally ok with that.” He blushed and grinned sheepishly when his boyfriend glared at him. To change the subject, he turned to Annie and asked, “How are you settling in? Do you like it here?”

“I'm doing ok. Just got everything unpacked a few days ago.” She shot another glare at Reiner when he laughed. “Shut up, Reindeer, I have to work and I don't feel like unpacking when I get home.” Annie returned her attention to Bertholdt. “It's nice here. Quiet. Which is all I want.” Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement and looked over, thinking that Reiner was moving. Instead, she saw Mikasa floating right behind her childhood friend.

Reiner spun around and muttered, “Do you have a window open or something? I just got really fucking cold.”

Annie shrugged. “It's an old house. Probably just a draft.” She continued to watch Mikasa carefully, seeing the passive look on her face.

When Reiner started to speak again, Mikasa reached down and grabbed his cheek. He spun around again, eyes narrowed. “What the fuck was that?”

“What was what?” Annie asked. She shot a look past Reiner, directed at the ghost.

“It felt like someone grabbed my cheek!”

Bertholdt suggested, “Maybe it was a muscle spasm.” He smiled gently at Reiner and reached over the small gap between his chair and where Reiner sat at the end of the couch to squeeze his hand. “Don't worry about it. They happen.”

His boyfriend pouted for a moment but didn't argue further.  While they were distracted, Annie took the opportunity to glare at Mikasa. The ghost seemed unfazed and simply waved before disappearing.

[X]

Mikasa didn't appear until nearly a week after the visit from Annie's friends. She popped up beside the living woman late on a Saturday, this time sitting where Reiner had sat. “Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” Annie replied, “what’ve you been up to?” She raised a brow and looked at the ghost curiously. “By the way, why did you mess with Reiner?”

“Just felt like it,” Mikasa answered. She said, “I wanted to get a reaction that I never get from you.” The ghost smiled faintly and leaned back, reclining in her spot. “So. How long have you known those guys?”

Annie smirked. “Why, you jealous?”

“Why would I be jealous?” Mikasa scowled,her expression more indignant than angry. She turned her head away and muttered, “I'm just curious.”

“Jeez. Look, I've known Bert and Reiner since I was three. All of our parents were friends at church.” She took another sip of her hot chocolate. At the incredulous look on Mikasa's face, Annie laughed. “C'mon, I was a kid, I couldn't really stay home while my parents went to church. I wasn't old enough.”

“Still. I can't imagine you going to church.” She grinned. “Did you wear a dress?”

“Hey, hey, hey, don't you _dare_ make assumptions. I look _damn_ good in a dress.”

Mikasa hummed thoughtfully, “Wouldn't know. I've never seen you in a dress. But, I don't really doubt that you would be.”

They fell into silence for a time. Annie sipped her hot chocolate and watched the news. Though, granted, she wasn't actually watching but instead looking at the screen boredly. Her eyes widened when she felt the familiar sensation building in her throat and she brought her arm up quickly, sneezing into the crook of her arm. “Holy fuck.”

“Maybe you should see a doctor,” Mikasa said, “you've been sneezing more often.”

“It's probably just allergies.” She sniffled.

The ghost looked worried but didn't press the issue. Instead, she murmured, “If it doesn't pass within the next few days, will you go to a doctor?”

“I appreciate your concern but I promise I'll be fine.” When Mikasa nodded, Annie changed the subject, asking, “You said you had been planning on getting a tattoo before you died. What were you going to get?” She smiled faintly when she saw the ghost spectre brighten a little.

“I was going to get my brother's, our best friend's and my own zodiac symbols on my fingers.” She explained, “The three of us were always together.”

Annie felt her smile grow. “Any others?”

“Uhm. Well, I was thinking of a wolf. Eren said I was a lot like a wolf when we were growing up,” she mused. Mikasa tucked her hair behind one ear and glanced at her lap,smiling softly. “I miss them.”

She replied, “I understand.” Annie glanced back at the TV for a moment and then again at Mikasa. She said quietly, “Don't let this go to your head but I'm actually kind of happy you're here. It made moving feel a little less lonely.” Getting to her feet, Annie grinned and stated, “I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted.”

Annie was about halfway up the stairs when she heard Mikasa call, “Good night, Annie.”

[X]

As the weeks progressed, Annie grew more and more tired; her sneezing was eventually accompanied by coughing. However, her stubbornness kept her from seeing a doctor immediately and it wasn't until she nearly passed out from exhaustion at work that she finally conceded. When she got home from the doctor's office, Annie made herself some tea and flopped into bed. However, with how stuffed up she was, the small woman found herself unable to sleep.

Mikasa appeared next to her. “I told you you should've seen the doctor earlier.”

“Shush, I know that,” Annie rasped. She coughed and curled up under the blankets, her eyelids heavy. Looking at her ghostly companion, the blonde woman mumbled, “This is the worst I've felt in a long time.” A fit of coughing interrupted her and Mikasa watched as it wracked Annie's small frame. She sighed after the coughing had subsided and muttered, “I just want this to be over.”

The expression on Mikasa's face grew more concerned. “Annie, did you get some medicine so you can get better?”

“Yeah,” Annie mumbled. She waved Mikasa's concerned expression off. “Don't worry. I'll be fine. I just need to sleep.”

Mikasa didn't argue and instead sat, floating just above the bed. Over the following week, the spectre watched as Annie seemingly got worse. Her fever dipped for a few days but quickly shot back up afterwards, climbing terribly high.

Annie's breathing had grown more shallow and she wheezed as she lay in bed. Her complexion was pale and her face looked sunken. She turned her gaze to Mikasa who kept a constant vigil at the homeowner’s side. Quietly, she murmured, “Why do you look so sad, Mika?”

Her lips trembled as she choked out, “I don't want you to die, you jerk.”

The woman laying in bed smiled weakly. “C'mon, don't look so sad. I know you're already a ghost and all but you shouldn't make sadness look pretty.”

Mikasa forced a laugh and found herself nearly crying. “That sounds like you got it out of some old book.”

“Dunno,” Annie chuckled, “I might've gotten it out of some movie.” Her breathing was labored and she whispered, “Don't be sad, Mikasa. It'll be better than having to suffer through anymore of this.” She muttered, “Damn my chest hurts…”

Mikasa placed her spectral hand over Annie's forehead. When the woman smiled blissfully, she whimpered, “I wish I could do more. But at least you won't be alone…”

“Hey, can't be upset about that,” the other woman admitted. Her blue eyes were glassy as she sighed, “Y’know, if we had met when you were alive, I probably would've asked you out. Even if you are annoying as fuck.” She grinned, hearing Mikasa giggle through her tears. “See, there we go. That's the annoying jackass poltergeist I fell through.”

With a faint, forced grin, Mikasa joked, “Sounds more like you fell _for_ me, not _through_ me.”

There was a pause before Annie quietly said, “Maybe I did.” Her head started to nod as she grew tired. The young woman shifted a little to lay down properly, her head nestled on the pillow. “I'm really tired, ok? I'll see you around.” Mikasa remained quiet as Annie started to doze off.

Within twenty minutes of falling asleep, Annie's chest stopped moving up and down and she passed.

[X]

Annie was found the day after because Reiner and Bertholdt had tried calling numerous times with no response. It was painful, seeing the two men cry over their childhood friend. It was like seeing Eren and Armin when they came to move Mikasa's things out. She watched as a barrage of people came in and out, taking Annie's covered body out on a gurney. Mikasa was quietly a little angry that Annie didn't go back to the hospital. She could've lived and Mikasa watched as she did little to help herself. The ghost sulked, watching as everything was packed up and removed from the home.

It happened, about a week and a half after Annie had passed, that sun filtered through the window in the kitchen and Mikasa looked outside with a flat look. Showing up and wandering around had lost its luster without Annie to talk to or pester.

“Good fucking God, you're dead, you shouldn't look _worse_ than death,” Annie stated.

Mikasa rounded on her and snapped, “Oh, shut up, what do you-” Her eyes widened at the sight of the blonde woman standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “Annie…”

“You know, fun fact, I found out that I had an underlying genetic heart condition that I had no idea about.” She rests her hands on her hips and floats a little above the floor. “Add that to my asthma and the fact that I got pneumonia, I had really low chances of survival.” With a shrug, she smirked at Mikasa. “What's wrong, Mika, cat got your tongue?”

Without another word, Mikasa leaped at Annie, crashing into her and sending both of them through the floor.


End file.
